


Finding Richard

by eponine119



Category: Lost
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 07:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29871027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eponine119/pseuds/eponine119
Summary: Juliet has some questions for Richard
Kudos: 7





	Finding Richard

Finding Richard  
by eponine119  
July 26, 2020

“Where does Richard live?” 

“Why would you ask that, Juliet?” Ben asks, in that slow way he has. The one she thinks is him buying time while he tries to figure her out. 

“Curiosity,” she lies. Richard doesn't have a house in town, even though there are empty houses. He appears from time to time. She knows sometimes he goes off-island – like when he was courting her to come here. “I've heard a lot of rumors.” 

“You should know better than to listen to rumors,” Ben says, affably. It's fake. It's all fake with him. 

She does find it interesting, that Ben doesn't want her to go see Richard. So she smiles, ever so calmly, and asks Tom the next time she sees him. Tom spills, of course, as she knew he would. She also knows he'll go straight to Ben, so she sets off into the jungle. 

There are so many strange things on this island, she thinks as she hikes. She will never begin to understand them all. 

The village is there, like Tom said it would be. Ancient-looking structures on the cliffside overlooking the ocean. Juliet sits behind the treeline, drinking water from her canteen, watching. 

A twig breaks behind her and she jumps to her feet. It must have been deliberate, an announcement, because they all know how to move silently. She's face to face with him. Richard. 

“Why are you here,” he asks, not impatiently. 

“To see you,” she replies. 

“Why?” 

She wants to suggest they go inside. She's still not used to having conversations in the jungle instead of laboratories or living rooms. 

“If this is about my being the one to convince you to come here,” he begins. 

She shakes her head. It's funny how seeing him makes her feel like she did in Miami, back when she was practically a different woman. It's never even crossed her mind to blame him for bringing her to the island. She knows now it was Ben. It was always Ben. 

“You know why I'm here,” she says. His dark eyes agree. “There are things I've heard about you. If they're true, they could be the key to all of this.” 

“They're not the key to it,” Richard says. 

“So they're true?” Her eyebrows rise, because he didn't deny it. “I mean, I've heard that you – that you don't --” 

Richard looks at her and sighs. He looks deeply uncomfortable, like this isn't something he wants to talk about, which she supposes she can understand. 

“I'm a doctor,” she says. “How could I not want to try to understand how --” 

“It was a gift,” he says. She looks at him curiously. “From Jacob. A gift that Jacob gave to me.” 

“Jacob,” she repeats. She's heard the name, but not much else. She doesn't really believe in Jacob. “How could he --” 

“Look, Dr. Burke,” he says, stepping toward her with one hand out. She laughs, that he's calling her that, like they're back in Miami and he's pretending to be a scientist. “Juliet,” he corrects himself. “You know the island is special.” 

“Let me examine you,” she requests. “If it's something special, from the island, it can't hurt. And maybe there's something --” 

“I'm afraid that won't be possible,” he says. 

She feels an insane amount of disappointment weighing on her chest. She wants to cry, or rage, but she knows it won't get her what she wants. She wonders what he's so afraid of. Or maybe who he's so afraid of. 

Jacob. 

She frowns. “You could say yes. If you wanted to,” she points out, her voice strained. 

“I don't want to,” he says. 

“You aren't curious how it works?” she asks. 

He shakes his head. “Why should I be?” 

She supposes she can't explain it to him. Maybe none of it's true. It's all made up to support this Jacob myth, and he's really thirty-seven or something. Or maybe he really has lived forever, and he's forgotten what it was like to question, to want to know things that seem unknowable. 

Whichever it is, she isn't likely to find out. “I'm sorry I wasted your time, Mr. Alpert,” she says coldly. 

“It was my pleasure, Juliet,” he says, and smiles. She meets his eyes, and shakes her head. “I trust you can find your own way back.” 

“Of course I can, Richard,” she says, and turns on her heel and goes. Wondering why this island always leaves her feeling vaguely humiliated. 

(end)


End file.
